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I am looking to return to 40k, have scoped out my local gaming club and looked at my old (OLD) models in disarray (I really couldn't paint!).

Long story short, I have decided that as the game has changed considerably since I last played (2nd edition I believe) that I will go with Space Marine as a start. Also as I'm no longer a child, I may also spend more time painting the models so that they don't look like crusted piles of paint.

I do have a question however - one which will dictate my painting as I want to stick to an army which matches it's chapter tactics. The question is: White Scars or Iron Fists?

I like both colour schemes, I see the benefit in both and they each have their advantages. My local club is dominated by Tau Monstrous Creatures, Eldar (inc. their Wraith Knights) and Grey Knights. As such, I'm wanting to utilise grav weapons and mobility for a shooty army. As they regularly have tournaments, I'm looking for one which would serve me best for them.

The swing points for me:
White Scars have hit and run and the Stormlance formation - get out of assault and back to shooting, in addition to extra movement and popping in and out of transports for cover
Iron Fists have the re-roll of 1's, with the Sternhammer formation - pretty much twin linking all bolt weapons but importantly, the auxiliaries offer much greater flexibility by allowing smaller additions.

My mindset of playing would be:

White Scars - move, pop out & shoot, jump back in transports. Using my bikes for objectives as well as some nicely placed grav due to the ability to move across the board very quickly.
Iron Fists - power-up of my "tax" units due to bolter benefits and ob sec, roam around in Rhinos firing heavy grav out of the fire points and also the benefit of drop pods in the demi-company.

My question is - which would typically fare better from an experience perspective? I'm assuming Imperial Fists would be better for kill points and white scars for maelstrom. Am I missing something by overlooking Ultramarines, Ravenguard or Salamanders?

Opinions very welcome. I have considered BA, DA and SW however (and have a lot of old SW models) but if I'm being honest, I'm looking at standard SM to give me some degree of flexibility as I learn the game.
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Welcome to Dakka ]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/711749/9092147.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/711749/9092147.page GMT
I'm in the exact same boat as you, last played 2nd edition (if you could call it "played" - I bought random miniatures and chucked them on the table in big GW store battles, never had an army).

Like yourself, I'm also looking to enter the war on the side of the Imperium (although I'm kind of rooting for chaos to finish off the Emperor). I picked up a cheap Dark Vengeance box and am going to paint them up as pre-Heresy DA so I can run them as either Fallen/Chaos or a DA successor chapter. I'm hoping this will help me build up my hobby chops and give me a small CAD/allied detachment for whatever army I decide to commit to.

With regards to your choices, they seem to be very different. I think the best advice would be to read up on the fluff and see which one you like the sound of best.

2017 is the 30th anniversary of 40k and looks set to be very interesting with the launch of another Black Crusade and the Fall of Cadia supplement. Just in case it makes any difference to your choice, they seem to be doing something with Black Templars - there's a faint hint at a bit of a revival/refresh to come as they seem to play a role in the new supplement.

Good luck with the hobby!]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/711749/9096966.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/711749/9096966.page GMT CC than it seems like you are looking at, so take that into consideration. Can't help you with Iron Fists.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/711749/9097687.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/711749/9097687.page GMT